The smallest of the ships, the Dolphin was the first to be completed. Then, shortly after President Grover Cleveland and the Democratic party came to power in November 1884, the steel propeller shaft of Dolphin shattered during trials. The new Secretary of the Navy was a political hack named William C. Whitney who used minor deficiencies of the Dolphin to launch to outright attack the naval program and the Roach yards. Whitney refused to accept the Dolphin into the navy and refused to pay for it. What’s worse Whitney persuaded the Attorney General to call the entire contract with Roach for all four ships void. Work on all ships ceased and creditors besieged Roach demanding money, which the constructor did not have because of the improper actions of the Secretary of the Navy and Attorney General. Furthermore, the Attorney General threatened legal action against Roach to return the money the company had already received from the government.